Dear sisters and members of the Family of the Incarnation.
September is the Season of Creation, and we join the great ecumenical family in prayer and action.
September 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, was proclaimed by Patriarch Dimitrios I for the Orthodox in 1989 and approved by Pope Francis in 2015. The Season of Creation begins on that date and lasts until October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. This year’s motto: Peace with Creation.
Isaiah 32:14-18 “For the palace will be forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, the joy of wild asses, a pasture for flocks. Until a spirit from on high is poured out on us, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness, and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.”
The prophet Isaiah pictured the desolated Creation without peace because of the lack of justice and the broken relationship between God and humankind. This description of devastated cities and wastelands eloquently stresses the fact that human destructive behaviours have a negative impact on the Earth.
Our hope is that the Creation will find peace when justice is restored.
To hope in a biblical context does not mean to stand still and quiet, but to act, pray, change, and reconcile with Creation and the Creator in unity, metanoia (repentance), and solidarity.
Creation is God’s sacred gift, entrusted to our care. As co-workers with the Creator, we must embody peace with all of Creation.
What close signs do we perceive that speak to us of a lack of peace with Creation?
While the challenges may seem overwhelming, Christ reminds us, “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). Hope fuels action; through prayer, discernment, and commitment, we can create a foundation for change.
What changes can we begin to make in our own lives that will contribute to peace with Creation?
May our prayer and commitment to peace become signs of prophetic hope.
We conclude with the prayer of Season of Creation 2025: PEACE WITH CREATION.
Creator of all, we praise you for the gift of life and for the faith that unites us in care for our common home. We confess how estranged we have become— from one another, from your Creation, and from our truest selves. We acknowledge that our greed and destructive impulses have fractured our relationships with you, with others, and with the Earth. Fertile fields have become barren, forests lie desolate, oceans and rivers are polluted. Thriving communities have become places of suffering, and the earth cries out.
Beloved Christ, who spoke “Shalom” to frightened hearts, stir us to compassionate action. Inspire us to work for the end of conflict, and for the full restoration of broken relationships— with you, with the ecumenical community, with the human family, and with all Creation.
Prince of Peace, through your wounds, teach us to stand in solidarity with the woundedness of others, of creation, and of the world. Through your resurrection, make us people of hope— with a vision of swords turned into ploughshares and tears transformed into joy. May we come together as one family, to labor for your peace— a shalom where all your people may dwell in safety, and rest in quiet places. Amen.
International Commission on Integral Ecology, September 1st, 2025
